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Conjunctions and the Structure of Complex Sentences

Hungarian complex sentences are very logical, but they have one feature that feels unusual to English speakers: the main clause often contains a pointing word such as “that,” “there,” “then,” or “for that reason.” This word points forward to the conjunction or relative word in the subordinate clause.

1. Cause: “for that reason …, because …“
To answer Miért? (“Why?”), Hungarian uses the pair azért …, mert ….

  • Miért nem eszel semmit? - Why are you not eating anything?
  • Azért nem eszem, mert nincs étvágyam. - I am not eating because I have no appetite. Literally: for that reason I do not eat, because I have no appetite.

2. Relative clauses: “the one who / the thing that”
In these sentences, the main clause contains pointing words such as az (that one / the thing), azok (those), abban (in that), and the subordinate clause starts with relative pronouns such as aki (who), ami (what/which), or amelyik (which one).

  • Az segít, aki tud. - The one who can help, helps.
  • Az a tanterem nagy, amelyikben most óra van. - The classroom in which there is a class now is large.
  • Azt a lányt szereti, akinek fekete szeme van. - He loves the girl who has black eyes.

3. Time and place pairs: “then, when” / “there, where”
The same mirror-like structure is used for time and place.

  • Akkor …, amikor … - Then …, when …
  • Ott …, ahol … - There …, where …
  • Oda …, ahova … - To there …, where/to which …

Reading Practice

  • Azért nem eszem, mert nincs étvágyam. [I am not eating because I have no appetite.]
  • Azért tanulok magyarul, mert Magyarországra akarok utazni. [I am learning Hungarian because I want to travel to Hungary.]
  • Az segít, aki tud. [The person who can help, helps.]
  • János azt szereti, aki mindenben segít neki. [János loves the person who helps him with everything.]
  • Melyik kutyát látjuk a fényképen? Azt a kutyát látjuk a fényképen, amelyik öreg. [Which dog do we see in the photo? We see the dog in the photo that is old.]
  • Az az orvos új, akihez megyek. [The doctor I am going to is new.]
  • A postás abba a házba megy, amelyikben a Kovács család lakik. [The mail carrier goes to the house where the Kovács family lives.]
  • A nővér oda siet, ahol a betegek várják. [The nurse hurries to where the patients are waiting for her.]
  • A házunk ott van, ahol csak magas épületeket építenek. [Our house is where they build only tall buildings.]
  • A mi kertünkben annyi almafa van, amennyi a tietekben. [There are as many apple trees in our garden as in yours.]